Shsu wrote:
Make sure you are clear about what the manufacturer means when they write "16 gauge" and "12 gauge." Is it the cross section of the sum of all of the wires in the cable or is it the cross section of each of the individual wires used, or possibly even the cross section of only the wire(s) used for the power legs? If you don't differentiate here, none of these number will really mean anything.
I recommend this AWG chart to make the math easier, and to fully grasp that the AWG (American Wire Gauge) numbers go backwards in order of the size of the conductors.
Next, add up the sums from the chart to see where you're at in terms of the real availability for power transfer. For example, the Shiva is advertised as "3 x 18 AWG Micro-Monofilament". This means that one of the three is for the ground connection, and no power goes through it. The power circuit is made up of the other two conductors, each 0.823 mm^2 in cross-sectional area (which means the wires are each 1.024 mm in diameter). In the cables you tried earlier, you said they were '12 gauge.' If by chance the TOTAL of the cross-section all three wires is 12 gauge, you are dealing with 3.31 mm^2 divided by three, which is 1.103 mm^2 each. If so, here you see the first of several reasons why you may hear a different sound between the two cables (1.103 is greater than 1.024).
However, since you said that they are fat and unflexible cables, it is likely that their individual conductors are indeed 3.31 mm^2 each (that's three multi-stranded wires, 2 mm in diameter each which is double the published 1 mm in diameter for the three individual conductors of the Shiva).
Therefore, you must look further for reasons of sound quality difference.
If you look around on the audiophile forums you will find a large agreement as to the fact that, in general, mono wires (that is, electrical conductors which are made of individually insulated single wires) sound better than multi-stranded wires (that is, electrical conductors which are made of many very small and flexible strands of conductors). It is possible that, given the mono wires of the Shiva, this very difference gives you a large part of the sound difference. That is why many people prefer laquered magnet wire (the stuff that they wind transformers with, which is always a mono wire) to multi-stranded wire when making DIY speaker cables. It is an audible difference there; why shouldn't it be audible in the power cable, too, then?
Not counting the plugs, there are basically three facets to cable design. Geometry, dielectric materials, and metal type. In geometry, I would count the amount of metal used. Before experimenting with many different power cables, people tend to get tied to the conductor rating as if that were the only parameter, but in fact, after some experience, you will see that, indeed, this parameter is more a quantitative measure and not as much a purely qualitative measure. "Shiny metal" does not yet tell you anything about how the thing's going to sound. In this respect, eyes deceive.
Well, according to the other specs they publish for the other cables, it appears to mean that the more metal you are buying, the closer you are to the speed of light. Until you get to the Odin. The Valhalla, they write, has 91% the speed of light. The Odin has only 86% and costs a lot more money. Apparantly the shield may have something to do with this. But I don't know, and Nordost doesn't appear to publish the methodology of how they come up with these numbers. In fact it is strange to publish numbers and to keep quiet about how they were determined.
Louis Motek
I guess I need a refresher course in electricity, why would these 16 gauges be better than the 12 gauges wires i presently have? Would the stranded 12 gauge present a lower resistance and capacitance?
Make sure you are clear about what the manufacturer means when they write "16 gauge" and "12 gauge." Is it the cross section of the sum of all of the wires in the cable or is it the cross section of each of the individual wires used, or possibly even the cross section of only the wire(s) used for the power legs? If you don't differentiate here, none of these number will really mean anything.
I recommend this AWG chart to make the math easier, and to fully grasp that the AWG (American Wire Gauge) numbers go backwards in order of the size of the conductors.
Next, add up the sums from the chart to see where you're at in terms of the real availability for power transfer. For example, the Shiva is advertised as "3 x 18 AWG Micro-Monofilament". This means that one of the three is for the ground connection, and no power goes through it. The power circuit is made up of the other two conductors, each 0.823 mm^2 in cross-sectional area (which means the wires are each 1.024 mm in diameter). In the cables you tried earlier, you said they were '12 gauge.' If by chance the TOTAL of the cross-section all three wires is 12 gauge, you are dealing with 3.31 mm^2 divided by three, which is 1.103 mm^2 each. If so, here you see the first of several reasons why you may hear a different sound between the two cables (1.103 is greater than 1.024).
However, since you said that they are fat and unflexible cables, it is likely that their individual conductors are indeed 3.31 mm^2 each (that's three multi-stranded wires, 2 mm in diameter each which is double the published 1 mm in diameter for the three individual conductors of the Shiva).
Therefore, you must look further for reasons of sound quality difference.
If you look around on the audiophile forums you will find a large agreement as to the fact that, in general, mono wires (that is, electrical conductors which are made of individually insulated single wires) sound better than multi-stranded wires (that is, electrical conductors which are made of many very small and flexible strands of conductors). It is possible that, given the mono wires of the Shiva, this very difference gives you a large part of the sound difference. That is why many people prefer laquered magnet wire (the stuff that they wind transformers with, which is always a mono wire) to multi-stranded wire when making DIY speaker cables. It is an audible difference there; why shouldn't it be audible in the power cable, too, then?
Not counting the plugs, there are basically three facets to cable design. Geometry, dielectric materials, and metal type. In geometry, I would count the amount of metal used. Before experimenting with many different power cables, people tend to get tied to the conductor rating as if that were the only parameter, but in fact, after some experience, you will see that, indeed, this parameter is more a quantitative measure and not as much a purely qualitative measure. "Shiny metal" does not yet tell you anything about how the thing's going to sound. In this respect, eyes deceive.
What is this argument that a wire has 90% transmitting at speed of light?
Well, according to the other specs they publish for the other cables, it appears to mean that the more metal you are buying, the closer you are to the speed of light. Until you get to the Odin. The Valhalla, they write, has 91% the speed of light. The Odin has only 86% and costs a lot more money. Apparantly the shield may have something to do with this. But I don't know, and Nordost doesn't appear to publish the methodology of how they come up with these numbers. In fact it is strange to publish numbers and to keep quiet about how they were determined.
Louis Motek